Outcome of the second TPWind General Assembly: “shaping the vision…”

17.03.2008

The second General Assembly of the European Wind Energy Technology Platform (TPWind) was held on 12-13 February 2008 in Brussels. Further steps were taken towards the completion of the Strategic Research Agenda and Market Deployment Strategy documents, to be released later this year, which will present the group’s work.

The goal of TPWind is to identify the areas where increased innovation as well as longer term research and development are needed. The overall aim is cost reduction. TPWind’s seven working groups focus on different aspects of wind energy, from grid integration to environmental issues. TPWind also has a Mirror Group, made up of representatives of Member States, which will make sure that the Platform’s EU level research priorities are met on a national level.

During the General Assembly, the working group members discussed the pressing needs of the industry as demand for wind energy booms. In 2030, wind energy could provide almost a quarter of EU electricity. For the industry, that means manufacturing four turbines and 12 blades per hour. In order to meet this requirement, the sector must address its current shortage of human resources and industrial capacity (turbines, vessels, grid infrastructure). Also crucial is the improvement of the reliability, accessibility and efficiency of the turbines.

The TPWind members are drawing up research priorities and actions in order to address these challenges, as well as infrastructure upgrades and policy recommendations. The Finance Working Group is providing a provisional total R&D budget for the newly established requirements, estimating the current lack in research funding and identifying financial instruments that could help bridge the gap between research and innovation.

TPWind’s work will be presented in its first Strategic Research Agenda and Market Deployment Strategy documents, which will be discussed during the TPWind workshop at EWEC. The final reports, which will be available in May 2008, aim to provide recommendations of a pathway for wind energy R&D which will enable the sector to meet its potential capacity in the future.

EWEA is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. It has over 600 members, which are active in over 50 countries, making EWEA the world's largest and most powerful wind energy network.